The 3rd Periodic Meeting in Istanbul brought project partners together for two and a half days of workshops, planning, and community engagement to advance climate neutrality goals. Key workshops addressed topics like GHG emissions tracking, the integration of Positive and Clean Energy Districts (PCEDs), and refining climate-neutral labs (CN-Labs) roadmaps. Community-focused events included an Open Day at Hasanpaşa Gasworks, featuring interactive displays to engage families in urban transformation, and a Capacity Building Program by Eurocities, showcasing best practices and collaborative strategies for climate-neutral cities.
With a two and a half day of assessment, planning sessions, workshops, and discussions centred on achieving NEUTRALPATH’s objectives, project partners and stakeholders came together at the 3rd Periodic Meeting of the project.
Hosted by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) -Istambul is one of the project’s fellow cities- the event kicked off with an introduction and project overview led by Cecilia Sanz, Project Coordinator from CARTIF, followed by a welcome address from IMM. Throughout the meeting, attendees participated in a series of focused sessions structured around the project’s work packages (WPs), technical workshops, and strategic discussions.
A series of specialized workshops were held, each dedicated to refining cities’ approaches to climate neutrality. The first workshop was about Embodied Carbon & Consumption-Based GHG Emissions, led by DEMIR. This workshop centred on evaluating the different approaches cities use to create GHG inventories and calculate emissions. While challenges such as data coverage and resolution remain, the session aimed to identify data gaps and build a shared understanding of monitoring objectives under Scope 3 to improve the tracking of city-level emissions.
The second workshop was facilitated by CARTIF, provided cities with tools from the Mission Platform, useful for both Mission and Non-Mission cities. Participants explored how PCEDs could be embedded in broader city-level strategies, fostering climate-neutral initiatives within the NEUTRALPATH framework. The title of the intervention was Integrating PCED Strategy into Climate Neutral City Strategies.
This third workshop session facilitated exchanges on the challenges faced by the climate-neutral labs (CN-Labs) and enabled NEUTRALPATH cities to refine their roadmaps. Each of the five cities shared their current obstacles, followed by a collaborative brainstorming session. The workshop name CN-Labs Roadmap Ideation and Refinement was organised by Three O’Clock.
The workshop Evaluation of the Positive Clean Energy (PCED) Concept reviewed potential replication areas and defining the scope of a PCED. The discussion emphasized a life-cycle approach to PCEDs, and was led by DEMIR.
The planning sessions and workshops took place at Feshane Artİstanbul, while the Open Day and a site visit were held at Hasanpaşa Gasworks (Museum Gasworks). Designed to engage families, the Open Day featured an interactive display of project pilots and the “Energize” game to raise awareness of urban transformation.
Additionally, a half-day of Capacity Building Program sessions was conducted at the Esenler Bakery and Pastry School, organized by Eurocities. This program included a Mentoring Visit and a Challenge Presentation, highlighting best practices and technical solution challenges from the host city. The program concluded with a peer-review workshop, fostering collaborative reflection and feedback.
Image credits: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
